Time for Dinner
by SparklySlushie
Summary: Rose was hoping to have a nice dinner with her family, uncle, aunt, and their three kids, but when her mother leaves out that they were expecting three more guests, she freaks out and wonders who could possibly be coming.
1. Light and Fluffy

**A/N:** And here it is! My fourth story! And yes, I said _fourth_ story. The third one is still in progress, so it hasn't been updated. Of course, this is going to be the third story listed, but I can handle that. :) I hope it (and this) is good enough. This is actually a companion to my first story "Their First Conversation," even though it may not seem like it. I just wanted to say thanks to _books and candy,_ the first reviewer to my first story. Her question inspired me to get this up, so I hope she, like you, will enjoy it. :)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing dealing with 'Harry Potter.'

* * *

Rose came down the stairs wearing a white blouse and some muggle jeans. Hugo was right behind her, also wearing jeans matched up with a t – shirt. Hermione was at the bottom of the stairs and when she saw them, she raised an eyebrow as if to say 'you think you can get away with wearing _that_?' When her children tried to pass her, she held an arm out.

"Mum? I need to get by. Oh, wait – may I please get by?" Rose smiled sweetly at her mother.

"What is this? A toll booth?" Hugo just wanted to get into the kitchen before anyone touched the whipped cream. He wanted to set some aside to mess around with; he loved being part muggle – he could use their inventions even if he was underage.

"I'm wondering," Hermione began, "where you two think you are going wearing jeans?" Rose and Hugo glanced at each other before turning back to her.

"Downstairs?" Rose asked, confused. Hugo nodded and pointed to Rose, meaning 'what she said.'

"I told you guys that we were having dinner guests. You can't wear _jeans_ when we're having _dinner guests._"

Hugo shook his head. "You did tell us we were having guests, but you didn't tell us who, exactly, so – "

"So we thought we could just wear whatever since you thought it wasn't important for us to know," Rose finished. Hermione looked at her children sternly, but she could feel a smile try to force its way onto her face. She sighed and looked at them, the smile showing.

"Okay, okay. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny and your cousins are coming over."

"All five of them?" Hugo asked. If that were so, he _really_ needed to get some cans of whipped cream to hide.

"Yes all five of them. Now go back upstairs and wear something more – what's the word? – presentable for when we have guests." She checked her watch. "They'll be here in maybe thirty or forty-five minutes, so _go_." Hermione moved to block their way until they grudgingly marched back upstairs. She sighed and ran a hand through her now silky brown hair before going back into the kitchen; she wanted everything to be cooked the muggle way.

* * *

Rose began rummaging through her closet for something 'more presentable for when they have guests.' She had tossed the fifth dress she didn't like on her bed when Hugo came in. She smiled at him.

"Ah! Don't you look adorable?" Hugo had changed into a white dress shirt and black dress pants – muggle clothing. "Except, maybe your shirt should be tucked in."

Hugo grinned, showing off his blue braces. "Nah, unless mum sees and makes me, I don't think it needs to be tucked in." Rose laughed as Hugo sat at her desk. "How can you _not_ find something in that gigantic closet of yours?"

"Whatever. Anyway, I have chosen something, so shut up." She playfully stuck her tongue out at him, walking towards her bathroom and closing the door. She emerged five minutes later, having changed. Apparently, Hugo got bored because now he was reading – more like skimming – through one of her books. He looked up and pulled a disgusted face.

"You look awful." Rose grinned at her auburn colored hair and brown eyed brother.

"Thanks," she responded. This was a little code thing they had; they would say the opposite of how the other really looked. If she ever got a compliment from her brother, she knew she was in trouble. But sometimes, when they dropped the whole opposite code, they were able to give and receive kind words. They were extremely close, even if they wouldn't admit to it.

Rose had a light blue colored, long sleeved shirt under a blue, green, and purple spaghetti strap dress. It came about three inches above her knee and she matched it up with some knee high boots (the boots came up and stopped about three inches under her knees). Now all the skin you could see of her was her knees, hands, and face. Her auburn hair, she decided, had been left down. Really, she wanted to place it up in a ponytail, but no harm done. Just in case, though, she put a rubber band around her wrist.

Hugo stood up and together they tried again to get downstairs. Hermione was once more set at the bottom of the stairs, ready to evaluate them. She smiled and nodded, but stopped Hugo. She smiled again and pointed to his shirt.

"What's wrong with this handsome picture?" she asked him. He looked confused, but when Rose nudged him, he remembered what she had said. Frowning deeply while his mother's smile grew, he tucked his shirt in. "Good boy."

"What's the big deal anyway? It's just Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny and their kids," Hugo said. Rose had noticed that their mum had looked away when Hugo had said that and decided to push the subject a bit more.

"It _will _just be us, Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, and their kids, right? Right, mum?" she asked.

Hermione ignored the question. "You two can just watch some television until they arrive, okay?" she walked into the dining room.

The two children did as the were allowed and walked into the family room to turn the television on, seeing if anything good was being shown. Rose looked up at the clock. Only fourteen more minutes before the visitors arrived.

Hugo also looked up at the clock. "Do you think I can sneak in to slip a few cans of whipped cream?" His sister looked over at him and grinned.

"Depends on which brand of whipped cream you want and how much a 'few' is in your opinion."

"'Light and Fluffy' and about . . . twenty?" Hugo said, answering her questions. She shook her head at him.

"That's the good brand and we don't even _have_ twenty cans, smart guy," Rose said back. He just shrugged and they sat in silence for the rest of the time, watching television. Hermione called them into the dining room, so they turned the television off and walked towards the door leading to said room.

Inside, their mum was placing one last knife to the right of a plate. Hugo was about to follow Rose's lead and take a seat, but noticed something was off. "Where's dad?" he asked.

"Oh, I needed him to go get some more whipped cream for afters." Hugo's face fell.

"Drat," he muttered, once again about to take a seat, before stopping again. "So he _is_ joining us right?" Hermione nodded, confused as to why he would ask a question like that. "Then why are there _twelve_ places set?" he finished. Rose counted and when she saw Hugo was right, looked up at her mum. If their dad was joining them, as were their uncle, aunt, and their three children, there ought to be _nine_ places set, not twelve. Were there going to be three more people joining them?

Rose was about to ask when they heard a knock at the door. Hermione smiled and went to go answer it.

* * *

**A/N:** There's the first chapter! I know it isn't very good, but I wanted to get it up. Hopefully, this isn't an over cliched type story. More to come and yes, I promise there'll be more scenes with Ron in them. He's my favorite character (besides Fred and George, of course). :) Please review if there are any questions, mistakes, and for feedback. Thanks.

P.S. - I got the idea for Rose's outfit from an episode of 'Wizards of Waverly Place.' In the episode, Alex's dress didn't have spaghetti straps, but I didn't know how else to describe it so, hence 'spaghetti straps.' The episode name is: 'Don't Rain On Justin's Parade - Earth.' It was kinda funny. :) It really is a cute outfit!

--~~ Sparkly S ~~--


	2. For Serving Food?

**A/N:** And here is chapter two! Thank you to _Roxy43_ for reviewing! I know the title is pretty lame, (I mean really? Time for Dinner?) so I might change it in the future. Hopefully, you'll find this as funny or as good as the previous chapter. :) I tried to make this sound as British as possible, but some of the things sounded good as is, so they didn't change. Oh, well.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything dealing with 'Harry Potter.'

* * *

Hermione walked out of the dining room and toward the door with Hugo in tow. Rose, however, began to freak out. Who exactly was at the door? What if it was someone she absolutely hated with a passion –

"Had to knock on the door. Forgot my keys," the person at the door said.

Oh.

It was just her dad, Ron. When the door opened again, she expected to see her dad, but it was her mum carrying the shopping bags full of what Rose decided was whipped cream. She was about to help her mother with the bags as soon as her dad called her into the family room.

"Yeah, dad?" Hugo was lying on the couch, looking very bored. Ron moved him over and sat down, motioning for her to do so as well. She sat down on the left of Hugo, who suddenly looked annoyed.

"I was here first," he mumbled. Ron grinned at his younger son. Just as he was about to talk, Rose cut in.

"Hey, dad, if you forgot your keys, how come you didn't just use your wand?" her dad looked at her like it was an obvious answer.

"Oh, sure," he started sarcastically, "the door starts to open all of a sudden and the next I know I'm getting attacked by some yellow birds." Rose and Hugo laughed; they remember that story.

"Sorry – go on then."

Ron stood and walked to the door as if to make sure their mum wasn't listening in. "Okay, your mum has this . . . _idea_." The way he said 'idea' made them more interested. Was it a good idea? "She wants you two to serve the food when the guests arrive."

"Why? What's in it for us?" of course Hugo would ask a question like those. Rose nodded.

Ron picked his tie up from the table. "Well, your mum says she'll consider bumping both of your curfews up – "

"For serving food?" Hugo interrupted.

"Ten minutes," Ron finished.

"_For serving food?"_ Hugo asked once again, looking very skeptical. Rose had her right eyebrow raised. He knew they weren't going to like Hermione's little . . . _gift. _

"That's why I called you two in here. I have a proposition: be on your best behavior and serve the food and _I'll_ raise your allowances up. And by 'I'll', I mean don't go running to your mother saying something about the raise in your allowance, okay?" Something Rose and Hugo liked about being half – bloods: allowances. Their parents had introduced the two to it when Rose had turned eight; Hugo being six.

Rose was about to ask why he was going through all this trouble for one dinner, but an excited Hugo had something else to ask.

"By how much and which allowance?" That's right; they got an allowance for the Wizarding World and the muggle one. Don't think they're spoiled though – you should see how much Hermione will give them at a month's time for fear "they'll waste it all at Zonko's or your brother's shop."

Ron swung his tie behind his neck and around his shoulders. "That, my dear children, depends on your behavior tonight. Now, Rose, could you help me with this thing? All the other ones I worn were clip – on." He pulled the tie off his shoulders while Rose stood up to help him. Hugo watched amusedly as Rose somehow got her hand stuck in his tie which was nowhere near being tied around his dad's neck.

"Um – dad, I think I'm stuck," Rose said with a smile, "and why couldn't you have just _used your wand_?" Ron smiled back at her.

"Your mum doesn't want me doing magic in front of you guys because she thinks it'll tempt you." Hermione was a nice, caring person and could be cool when she wanted to, but apparently, not in the magic department. Ron pulled his wand out of his suit and got Rose unstuck and the tie fixed. Rose crinkled her nose playfully.

"What are you wearing?" Ron looked offended.

"Something called a dinner jacket; your mum said it looked good on me." And indeed it did. His dinner jacket had the black jacket and pants, but the shirt had a nice blue color, bringing out the blue hue in his eyes. Instead of a bowtie, he had a dark blue long tie.

"Well, there's about four more minutes until the guests arrive, so go check up with your mum about what you're to serve first." Ron pushed his sleeve back down and went outside, most likely to wait for the visitors for the evening.

"Come on, Hugo, you want that extra allowance, right?" Rose managed to get Hugo to stand and walk with her to the kitchen. Hermione looked up from some plates of food lined up on the countertop.

"Oh! There you two are. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind – "

"Don't worry, mum, dad explained already," Hugo said.

"Great! Okay, I know twelve plates may seem like a lot to carry, but I decided against some courses so you'll only bring out the starter, main course, side dish, and afters." She had pointed to different parts of the kitchen while talking and they had noticed there were twelve different plates set up on tables all over the room. The two nodded. "And if you forget or don't know which is which, I put a sign up above them. There is also a heating charm placed upon them, so they won't get too cold until they're picked up from under each sign." They nodded again. "Okay, good. Now if you do a good job, I may have a little surprise in for you." Hermione smiled and left the kitchen into the dining room. Hugo sighed.

"Twelve plates by four courses are forty-eight dishes. Forty-eight times we'll have to get up to get plates for everyone else while we miss out on eating."

"Actually, we can only carry two plates each. That's four, which means we'll be going in three times to get and distribute all of them." Hugo glared at her and she held her hands up in mock defeat. "Sorry."

He was about to retaliate, but they could hear some voices coming in from the hallway. The Potters must have arrived the muggle way – by car. They were about to pick up the starters and put them in the dining room, but they their father poked his head inside.

"Don't worry about the food yet; we have to get acquainted with our _company_."

"But we already know our own uncle, aunt, and cousins," Hugo said, puzzled.

"Um – the company your mum _didn't_ tell you about. Come on, then." His head disappeared from the doorway. Hugo scoffed.

"These better be some awesome company if I'm wasting my eating time for them." Rose laughed and lightheartedly pushed his head. He grinned.

"Thanks for inviting us; we brought some firewhiskey, but if you didn't want that, we brought this muggle invention called wine. And of course we brought some butterbeer for the kids."

_That must be the company_ Rose thought. Hugo pushed the door open and stepped inside, holding the door open for his sister; Rose followed and could almost feel her mouth drop open.

* * *

**A/N:** This was pretty shorter than Chapter One, but whatever. If there are any questions or mistakes I made that you want to tell me about, go ahead, it'll be great for the story. I would also love some reviews; they'd be so awesome. :) Thanks! I'll try to update whenever I have free time, but that may not be often, because I share this computer with my siblings. Hopefully though, I'll be getting my own computer. And maybe somewhere in the next chapter I'll tell you when this is happening, though if you've read "Their First Conversation" you'll have an idea of the season and all.

--~~ Sparkly S --~~


	3. This is Embarrassing

**A/N:** Here is Chapter three! I know this is probably really lame as there really isn't any humor or anything, but I needed a this chapter to introduce those who were invited. I'm pretty sure (actually, I know) it'll get funnier with James, Albus, Rose, and Hugo under the same roof in the same room! :) Thanks to: _Marciabarcia _and_ Frankie-JaymeENGLISHPROUD _for reviewing! Hopefully this chapter doesn't change your views of the whole story. Sorry if it isn't as English as the other chapter! :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything dealing with 'Harry Potter' because J.K. Rowling wouldn't have written a lame chapter like this one.

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Quickly, she changed the look of surprise to a shaky smile so she wouldn't seem so rude. It hadn't been the Potters Rose and Hugo had heard from the kitchen. It had been a family that they had never met, save for their son, but they barely even knew him. Rose hurriedly sat by Hugo who had taken a seat on the settee next to their parents. The other family was sitting on the sofa opposite of them. The _Malfoys _were _sitting_ on _their_ other settee.

She wondered why they were here in the first place, but thought against asking that question for it seemed impolite to just blurt out something like 'Why are you here?' It was pretty understandable that they were the guests their mother didn't tell them were coming. Hugo suddenly prodded her with his elbow.

"What?" she whispered.

"You know what?" She shook her head. "You look calm and happy. Ew," he added on. Rose took the hint and rearranged her smile so that it at least looked better than her first try. Hugo nodded. "You look _awful_," he grinned. She smiled back and secretly pushed him so the adults wouldn't see.

Hermione, wearing a strapless dark blue dress to match her husband, clasped her hands together. "Draco, Astoria, these are our children, Rose and Hugo." When she pointed them out, Hugo put on a small smile and Rose just awkwardly waved. Draco nodded with a hint of a smile while Astoria smiled brightly at them.

Draco still had the platinum blond hair and metal grey eyes Ron and Hermione had talked on the subject of, but he seemed much nicer than what they had said and his eyes looked soft. Astoria, on the other hand, had light brown hair and light blue eyes that were nearly glowing with warmth. He was wearing a dinner jacket with a grey shirt and no tie. Astoria was wearing a brown dress and slightly high heeled shoes. Scorpius was wearing black dress pants and a light blue shirt.

"Well," she began, "this is our son, Scorpius, but I'm sure you already knew him, right Rose? Hugo?" The two in question glanced at each other before nodding. Scorpius still looked the same as usual: blond hair, tall, fit, and those gorgeous grey eyes like his father's, but a bit darker maybe. It may seem dull or boring, but it worked on him. Ron checked his watch.

"Don't know what's keeping them up; they're usually punctual," he said apologetically. Draco shook his head.

"No problem at all. None at all." An awkward silence fell over them.

"She could have at least have thought up some topics for us to discuss with them; this is embarrassing," Hugo muttered to Rose, his lips barely moving. Rose nodded. She was about to try and strike up a conversation – 'Do you all know of the plunger?' when there was a knock at the door. Ron smiled and stood.

"That's them, then." He left the room and once the door opened, they could hear people entering and talking.

"Sorry about that, Hermione, James set off some Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs in the car. Had to swerve the car off to the side to either wait for it to clear up or try to get rid of it. The funny thing is – " Harry cut off when he saw the Malfoys. He put on a smile, nodded, and shook each of their hands. Harry was wearing a dinner jacket just like Ron and Draco, but in a different color: green. Ginny came in behind him wearing a matching dress to Harry's dinner jacket: It was a lighter green, though, with swirls around the bottom. After she met up with the Malfoy's, she and Harry took a seat next to them.

Ron came back in and right behind him were three kids; two with black hair and one redhead. James and Albus were pretty much wearing the same thing as Hugo; white dress shirt and black dress pants. The two sat in the last couple of chairs while Lily squeezed in next to her parents and Scorpius. She had decided on matching her parents, apparently, because she was wearing a green shirt under a denim jacket and jade ballet flats. Muggle clothing. She was also wearing something Hermione hadn't allowed her children to wear: jeans. Hugo had noticed.

"Mum, _she's_ wearing _jeans_!" Hermione only smiled and shrugged. Slowly, whatever tête-à-tête had been going on died out. Finally, Hermione stood.

"Shall we go into the dining room?" she asked. Everyone began to stand and Rose glanced over at Scorpius and saw a strange sight: he was _talking_ to Lily. And he looked like he was _enjoying_ it. Something surged through her and without a second thought the word jealousy ran throughout her mind.

_Wait, what? _She thought _I am _NOT _jealous of those two. I mean, she's a redhead and he has blond hair . . . what a lame excuse._

She sighed and followed the others across the hall. She sat next to Hugo was sitting on the right of her dad who was sitting next to her mum. Next to Hermione was Harry and Ginny and at one head of the table was Lily. Next to her and across from his mother was James seated next to Mr Malfoy, then his wife and son. Albus was sitting at the other head of the table across from Lily and next to Rose. Hermione took notice of the two empty chairs next to the Malfoys and quickly got rid of them, making the table shrink a little to accommodate the change.

Rose was about to ask where the food was, but remembered what her parents had told her. She grabbed Hugo by his wrist just as he had asked, "Where exactly is the – "

Inside the kitchen, Hugo said, "What was that – _oh."_ He looked around the kitchen at the various plates. "Okay, she said the starters are first, right?" Rose nodded and the two each grabbed two plates and headed for the door to the dining room. Rose placed the plates she had in front of Scorpius and Astoria while Hugo put his in front of Draco and James.

"So you're serving us?" James asked. "Well, how about you go get me some firewhiskey, then?" He was obviously joking, so Hugo joked back.

"How about something else? It's still strong and it will practically _kill_ you. It's called – "

"Hugo," his mum warningly hissed as Lily started laughing. Hugo moved with a laughing Rose into the kitchen to grab two more plates. When all the plates containing the starter were on the table, the two Weasley kids took their seats so everyone could begin eating.

* * *

**A/N:** Please don't hurt me! I know, I know! It was _really _lame! But I promise it'll get better in Chapter four! :) And yes, I also know I'm awful at describing people, so sorry for the lame descriptions of the Potters, Malfoys, and Hermione. And since this chapter sucked, I'll start working on Chapter four right away! :)

Tête-à-tête: Just a big, funny word for 'conversation'.

Oh, I know you're probably thinking this too: 'What's up with them wearing clothes that match someone else or their eyes?' Really, I don't know; it just came to me for some reason. :)

--~~ Sparkly S ~~--


	4. No one's Looking

**A/N:** Hopefully this makes up for the last chapter! :)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything dealing with 'Harry Potter'; I'm just a fan.

* * *

"Salad?" Hugo asked, disbelievingly, "The starter is salad?" Hermione glanced at her son.

"_Yes_, Hugo, well observed. It _is_ salad and yes we're having it. Eat up." Hermione and Hugo then seemed to have a staring contest. Ron, in the middle of the two, chuckled, and tried not to make any sudden movements so they wouldn't think he cheated. After two minutes, Hugo sneezed into his shirt, causing him to blink. Hermione smiled.

"It's okay Hugo, salad is _nutritious_ and _healthy_ for you," she said.

"Oh, great. Two words I _didn't_ want to hear," he said, but he grinned back at his mum before he turned and cautiously began eating and picking at the nutritious and healthy food upon him on the table. The adults began, to some extent, converse on some safe topics. Rose was in a fit of hysterical and silent laughter. Hugo glared at her and was going to say something to her when Albus spoke up.

"Hugo, did you hear Paula being whipped for that guy – what's his face? – Adam that one time? It was so bad her roommates had to put a bunch of – not enough in my opinion – cream on her while she was sleeping." Scorpius and Rose were looking at Albus as though he was crazy. Those sentences made _no_ sense whatsoever. Hugo looked as though he was about to agree with the looks on Scorpius and Rose's faces, but something sparked in his eyes and he nodded knowingly.

"No, I didn't hear about that. But I bet you're right and there wasn't enough cream either as her roommates probably didn't have enough time to get more or put a lot on. Crazy, huh?" Albus looked let down, but nodded before putting some salad in his mouth.

"Well, I hear she's getting away with it yet _again _but it'll be another waste of cream if the roommates don't at least try, you know?" Albus said after swallowing the food in his mouth. Hugo's mouth opened, but Rose interrupted.

"What _exactly_ are you two talking about? None of that makes _any_ sense, so is it some joke or something?" Hugo grinned.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart, sister dearest. If you paid any attention to the words, I'm pretty sure you'll catch on." To Albus though, he said, "She won't catch on."

"I'm sitting right in between you guys so I can hear everything you say to him, you dolt." She retorted, but she smiled.

"Don't worry, Rose, it's nothing really. I was just filling Hugo in about some stuff that was happening at Hogwarts." Albus popped some more salad into his mouth.

"But Hugo _goes_ to Hogwarts, wouldn't he know about it?" Rose asked after taking a sip of her water. Albus grinned.

"Do you go to Hogwarts?" he asked.

Rose rolled her eyes. "No; I go to Durmstrang," she said sarcastically.

"Really? I hear it's hard to get admitted to. And is it truly underwater?" Hugo couldn't help but say this. If the three had looked over at Scorpius, they would've noticed a small smile gracing his features.

Albus laughed before turning back to Rose. "So you do?" Rose tried to answer patiently.

"_Yes_, I go to Hogwarts." She was momentarily freaked out wondering what the youngest Malfoy could possibly be thinking of her and her family and this weird conversation. But that was cleared by what Albus said next.

"And you heard about this?" Rose shook her head. Albus smirked teasingly.

"Then how come _you_ don't know?" Rose raised her eyebrows at him, but it was a good setup, so she the laughter that was being held back into the open.

"He got you there Rose!" Hugo said, wiping fake tears away from his eyes and clutching his belly. "Isn't that right, Scorpius?" Rose's eyes widened; what had he just said? Even Albus looked curious as to why Hugo had just said that. "Don't think you're fooling me – I saw you laughing over there too." Scorpius grinned and Rose had to blink a couple of times. He was _smiling_. She had never actually seen him smile at school, so this came to a shock at her, but he should do it more, she decided. It looked good on him.

"I admit, that was pretty funny how you just lured her into that," he finally said. "But it is cool how you know how to take a joke," he said to Rose as Hugo and Albus burst into fresh laughter. Rose smiled at him before looking back down at her salad. She would've loved to let her eyes linger for a moment, but she knew if she had she would've started blushing. The Weasley blush, to be more exact.

After that little chat, the teenagers just continued to eat. Hugo had finished his salad, as had Albus and Scorpius, but it was good manners to wait until everyone finished before they could go get the next course. Hugo was immensely bored and began picking at his teeth. Rose took notice and scolded him after she took a sip of her water.

"Hugo, that is not proper during dinner," she said, trying to sound like their mum.

"Rose, I have braces. And besides, no one's looking; they're busy talking about escalators." Undeniably, it was true. Hermione was trying to get Harry to help her explain what an escalator was and how it worked, but he was too busy laughing. Ron had mistakenly called 'escalators' 'escapades' and a curious, but fuming Hermione had asked him precisely what kind of 'escapades' he had gotten himself into.

Rose rolled her eyes and finished up her salad in the next five minutes. She was going to try and talk to Scorpius, but was interrupted by Hugo poking her.

"Dad says we can – more like have – to pick up the plates now. Everyone's finished so we have to bring out what's next." Rose sighed and nodded. She and Hugo stood and they each grabbed six plates. Back in the kitchen, Rose went over to the table that had the main dish spread out on it. She grabbed two plates and was about to go back to the dining room, but she saw Hugo crouching down by the door. She then heard a clunk type noise and Hugo stood back up and turned toward her.

"Oh, Rose, hey. I'll just get two plates, then." He moved past her and came back. "After you, I believe." Rose glanced at him curiously.

"What was that all about?" Hugo looked at her innocently.

"What was what all about?" Before she could answer, though, he went on. "Come on; don't want to keep the hungry people waiting, huh?" He was about go through the door when Rose smiled; she had a hunch of what was going on.

"You're going to do something to get our pocket money taken away, aren't you?" His back stiffened.

"No, what are you talking about?" he tried to sound calm, but was faltering through.

"Nothing," she said triumphantly before pushing through the door separating the kitchen from the dining room. They did have hungry people to serve after all.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh, dear! What are Albus and Hugo planning? And does Rose really know what's going on? Maybe you'll find out in the next chapter . . . Can you figure out what they're doing? Just do what Hugo said and pay attention to the words, not the sentences. :) I'm sure someone'll figure it out.

--~~ Sparkly S ~~--


	5. Rose is Choking!

**A/N:** I don't know what was going through my head when I was writing this chapter! It's probably really stupid, but I'm okay with it. Thanks to _books and candy_ for her messages and reviews! Sorry if this chapter was on the short side. :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything dealing with 'Harry Potter.'

* * *

Hugo contentedly sniffed at the lovely aroma surrounding the main dish: chicken vegetable soup with rice. "Now this looks good," he said. Hermione smiled and everyone began to eat. Hugo, though, had to be careful not to get anything stuck in his braces, but he was sure a simple spell would get it out. He was dipping his spoon in bowl for some more soup when Rose jabbed him lightly on his arm. After he cleared his mouth he turned to her.

"Yeah?"

Rose's eyes flickered to Albus before looking back at him. "What exactly are you planning with Albus?" she whispered. Hugo grinned.

"Nothing bad, trust me." Her eyes narrowed.

"Are you going to get mum mad?"

"Maybe."

"Are we – scratch that, you – going to get in trouble?"

"Maybe."

"Are we going to be able to still get our pocket money?"

"No." Rose glared at him.

"Then why go through with it?"

"Can't tell you that. Maybe you should ask Al." Rose looked at Albus who had obviously heard everything, but was trying to show he hadn't.

"Al, what are you guys planning?" She was really curious at this point; she didn't want the Malfoys or her parents mad at them. The Potters would probably laugh along as they always did during pranks - unless they were severe pranks.

He shrugged. "Nothing bad, trust Hugo." He ate some more of his soup. Rose rolled her eyes; _these_ were the people she had to call family. She tapped her fingers on the table for a bit before spooning some more soup and rice to eat. She thought she'd ignore Hugo and Al for a bit – maybe they'd tell her then. So she sat there eating her soup, her eyes never leaving the bowl, cutlery, or rice.

_Now let's see how long it is until they notice _She thought.

Hugo says something to Al about Quidditch.

_Five . . ._

Al laughs at something.

_Four . . ._

Hugo eats some rice.

_Three . . ._

Al drinks a little water.

_Two . . ._

Hugo nudges Rose. She doesn't respond.

_One . . ._

Al pokes Rose. She still doesn't respond.

"MUM! Rose is choking!" Rose's eyes widened at Hugo's words. Suddenly, everyone was looking at her and Hermione was standing, wand at ready. Rose inconspicuously rolled her eyes. Not wanting to get Hugo in any trouble before his supposed big stunt with Al, she made a show of drinking water. Coughing slightly, she began to speak.

"It's okay. I'm fine – go back to your discussions, if you please." Everybody continued to stare at her. "Really," she says, taking some rice and eating it. Hermione nodded her head and slowly sat back down. That was _not _the reaction she expected out of Hugo. She turned toward him, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What was _that_ about?" she hissed at him. At looking at him, he really did seem scared. His hands were trembling, his mouth partly open, and his eyes huge. But, you didn't know Hugo like Rose did. Once he was sure no one was looking in their direction, he smirked mischievously.

"I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work," he said. Rose's lips twitched before she grinned. How could she not love this idiotic kid? She kicked Al's leg under the table as he laughed at her.

"Whatever. Are you guys going to tell me before it happens, or what? I thought we were really close, ya know?" Rose then put on her pouty face: her hands clasped together in front of her, her bottom lip sticking out, and her eyes wide and pleading. Usually, the pouty face was reserved for certain things – candy, extra television time, jumping on the settees – but now she put it on out of desperation. If they were going to blow something up, she didn't want to be _anywhere near_ the explosion. Or explosions.

Hugo grinned and waved his spoon around the air. "Well, eh . . ." he said vaguely.

"'Well, eh' what?" she asked.

"'Well, eh' is all I can tell you," he said, but he beckoned her closer, "had it been under any other circumstances, you'd be the first I'd tell." Rose was touched.

"And you're being serious, right?" she asked even though she knew he was. Before he could respond, someone talking to Lily disrupted.

"No, _I _am being _Sirius_. Get it?" James said. He knew it was lame; he just wanted to see their reactions. Rose's lips twitched again as if she wanted to laugh at the incredibly lame and over clichéd joke, but she instead smiled.

"Anyway," Hugo said, breaking eye contact with James, "yes, you're my big sister and I lo – and I'm obligated to tell you these kinds of things." He shrugged and turned back to his soup. Rose grinned and kicked him lightly. That had been one of those brother/sister moments.

"And I'm obligated to love you too," she said, giving him a one armed hug. He pulled a disgusted face and wiggled his way out of it.

"This is why I hate telling you my freaky sentimental feelings," he said, though he was smiling. Al looked on amused as was Scorpius.

"Oh, how I wish I had these types of moments with my siblings," he said before jokingly saying to James, "I love you, James!" The mentioned boy looked over at his younger brother and caught on to the joke.

"I love you too, mate!" he said back, a grin on his face. Al stood and James followed his lead.

"Do you want to hug it out?" he asked, his arms open.

"You must be mental," James said, before sitting down again. Al nodded.

"Yeah, that was awkward enough," he said back as he, too, sat back down. Harry and Ginny clapped at their performance as if they knew all along it wasn't real and Ron, Rose, and Hugo were laughing. Even Draco, Astoria, and Scorpius looked entertained. Hermione's eyes, however, were narrowed as if she knew something was going to happen, but if you looked closely you could see the tip-off of a small smile. Al caught Rose's eye and winked.

"I love you, Lily!" Lily looked up at him.

"Save it," she said with a smile; she may love both of her brothers, but this _was_ taking it a bit too far. Al grinned back at her and sat down.

"And that's why she's awesome," he said to Scorpius. Rose felt something surge through her again; why was _he_ telling _Scorpius_ about how awesome _Lily_ was? She blinked a couple of times and focused on finishing her rice.

She turned to Hugo after she was done with her food. "So when can I know?" Hugo gave her an exasperated look that said 'I thought we already discussed this,' but answered her anyway.

"Sometime during afters."

* * *

**A/N: **And that's when we'll all see what's going to happen. Most likely that'll be chapter seven. I hope you guys liked this chapter! :) I got 'cha there with this chapter's title, huh? :) Yes, Hugo was going to say he loved his big sister, but backed down 'cuz he felt incredibly stupid (but she knows how he feels). I can't believe I put that Serious - Sirius joke in there either. :)

Here are some terms in the above text you may or may not have known:

- Afters: [English] term for 'dessert'

- Pocket money: [English] term for 'allowance' (Thanks to _Frankie-JaymeENGLISHPROUD_ for telling me this)

- Settee: Sofa, couch, futon, divan ( Thanks to _Frankie-JaymeENGLISHPROUD for telling me this)_

- Clichéd: Corny, unoriginal, passé, hackneyed

- Cutlery: Plates, dishes, tea set, crockery

And one more thing: I might not be able to update tomorrow, but I'll try to. I would love it if you reviewed even if it was to tell me this story was lame or whatever!

--~~ Sparkly S ~~--


	6. Looks like Vomit

**A/N: **Here is Chapter Six! I hope it doesn't sound like I'm repeating stuff from the other chapters. Oh! And I did get to update today. :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything dealing with 'Harry Potter.' Though I bet it'd be really cool if I did. :)

* * *

Rose blinked. "Sometime during afters" . . . Wait a second . . .

"Is it _happening during_ afters or are you going to _tell me during_ afters?" she asked.

Hugo contemplated a bit before saying, "Good question."

"Hugo," she begged. Hugo patted her on her head.

"You won't die; it's not the end of the world."

"It will be if you blow something up near mum," she shot back. Hugo's eyes widened.

"You're right," he gasped, "but I'm still going to do it." He smiled.

She was about to start whining again, but Hugo cut in. "Come on, you're a_ Ravenclaw._ You answer riddles all the time but you can't figure something as simple as this out? You grab the plates and I'll get the bowls," he added when he noticed everyone was done. Rose drank the last bit of her water and stood to retrieve six plates before she would come back to get the rest.

"It's time for the side dish, now," Rose said once they had put all twenty-four dishes (bowls and plates) in the sink for cleaning later. They moved over to the table with the said food. Hugo grabbed two plates like they've been doing for the last two courses and waited for Rose to grab hers. After they finished all their trips, they sat down.

"This is something different I made, so I hope you'll like it," Hermione said. "It's butternut squash risotto." Hugo stared at the brownish white food with orange bits in it.

"Looks like vomit," he said bluntly. His eyes grew larger as he realized what he said and quickly tried to amend it. "But I bet it taste really yummy!" Ron was hiding a smile behind his spoon, making Hermione whack him on his arm.

"I didn't do anything – he's the one who said it!" Ron said, grinning at Hermione. She ignored him, but was trying not to laugh.

"Correct, it tastes delicious. And the next time I make it, you're helping Hugo."

"But mum – "

"No 'buts,' just food. Dig in," Hermione said with a smile at her son. Rose smiled at the pouty face on Hugo.

"Dig in," she said, taking her spoon and dipping it in the risotto before bringing it to her mouth. "Tastes good," she finally said to Hugo. He and everyone else began eating and complimented Hermione on the dish.

"Hermione, do you have anything else to drink? I finished up my water," Harry asked, holding up his glass.

"Oh, sorry about that; Hugo, Rose, would you two mind bringing out the drinks Mr Malfoy brought? Just the butterbeer." Hermione was about to ask him if butterbeer was okay when James scoffed.

"Come on, Aunt Hermione, I'm pretty sure I can handle the strong stuff," he said before he turned to Hugo and said, "Bring out some firewhiskey!"

"James, really?" Hermione said. Hugo put on a fake confused gaze.

"Do I still bring out the firewhiskey?" he asked. Hermione said "no" at the same time James said "yes." Hugo shrugged his shoulders and started toward the kitchen door.

"The firewhiskey, precious cousins!" James called after them. Hugo could hear someone say something before James spoke again. "I _promise_ I won't get _too_ drunk. Really, I'll be passed out before I can do something stupid anyway." Rose laughed; she'd love to see _that_.

"Where are the drinks?" Hugo asked; he just wanted to get out of the kitchen – the risotto was actually pretty good and it was almost time for what he and Al were planning.

"Right here," Rose replied and the two carried four mugs at a time back to the company. Rose sipped a bit at her butterbeer and saw Hugo's head was turned in her direction. She looked at him and saw he was having a silent conversation with Al. He saw her staring at him and smiled sheepishly as he gulped down some butterbeer.

Rose was about to eat some more of her food, but out of the corner of her eye she could she Al give a nod – you could barely see it unless you looked close enough – to someone across the table. That's when she heard frantic murmuring to her left. She spun her head and saw Lily had accidentally spilled her butterbeer. Ginny pulled out her wand quickly cleared the mess.

"Rose, Hugo, could one of you go get Lily another butterbeer?" Hermione asked.

Al stood. "No worries, Aunt Hermione, I'll get her another."

"I'll go with him," Lily said when the elders started chatting again. She stood and walked to the kitchen with Al. Rose watched them as they disappeared behind the door. Suspicious . . . _Two_ people are needed to get _one_ butterbeer? Suspicious indeed.

They came back and Lily had her butterbeer and what seemed to be a smile. Rose's stomach twisted.

What if Al just told her Scorpius fancies her? What if they're going out? What if they're laughing at me behind my back? What if –?

_Get a grip on yourself, Rose! _Her mind screamed at her._ They were _just_ getting a butterbeer, right?_

That's when something snapped into place in her head. Al plus Hugo equals prank. Prank is sometime during afters (or that's what she was telling herself). Al and Hugo might need accomplices for this prank. And they chose Lily. Rose's stomach untwisted itself and sunk. Why had they chosen _Lily_ of all people? She was just a girl; too young to enter the world of pranks!

_Hugo's her age and look at him_ the cynical part of her mind said. Rose did as she was told and turned to Hugo. He was finished with his risotto and was currently trying to balance a spoon on his nose. Rose inwardly rolled her eyes. She snatched the spoon off his nose which caught his attention.

"Hey –"

"You guys chose_ Lily_ of all available people for your prank?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked, despite the fact that his eyes were narrowed.

"Why would two people need to get one butterbeer?" she asked as if it was that evident. She could see him think and added, "How come you didn't choose me?" Now it was Hugo's turn to look at her as if it was that evident.

"Remember the last time I let you in on one of my pranks?"

Rose managed a small embarrassed smile. She _did_ remember that day.

* * *

**A/N:** So how did Rose handle pranks in her younger days and is Lily really part of their plan? Sorry if that was a little on the short side. I already have chapter seven and chapter eight is coming along. There might be nine chapters all in all. I have never tried butternut squash risotto; I was looking for some side dishes on this website and I randomly chose this one. The next chapter is the prank Al and Hugo have planned and the chapter after that will explain why they did it. And knowing Al and Hugo, it'll probably be something stupid. :) Reviews would be awesome. :)

P.S. - Here's the website where I got the side dish (and dessert) from if you want it: simplyrecipes(dot)com

--~~ Sparkly S ~~--


	7. It was Albus!

**A/N:** First off, I'm sorry if this chapter was bad or short. And I know some were looking forward to this chapter so I hope I didn't ruin it for you.

**Disclaimer:**I don't own anything dealing with 'Harry Potter.'

* * *

"You can't hold that against me! I was a child! A foolish, foolish child!" she exclaimed quietly.

"I was younger than you and I didn't even mess up," he said. "And you're still foolish," he added.

When Rose was nine and Hugo seven, he wanted to play a prank on their parents when he found some muggle prank items in the closet. What item did he choose? A whoopee cushion, of course. He put one cushion where their father usually sat during dinner and one where their mother typically sat. Rose stood in the background laughing. Once dinner came around, Rose was excited to see what would happen. So excited in fact, that she kept giggling every time one of them got ready to sit. Ron and Hermione put one and one together and found the two whoopee cushions.

"But I've changed! I promise!" Rose said. A little too loudly at that. The adults turned their attention to her again.

"What are you two talking about?" asked an amused Harry.

"Oh, this speech this girl said to Hugo," Rose lied. Hugo glared at her when Ron spoke up.

"You had a girlfriend, Hugo?" Hugo shook his head.

"It was Albus," he said, pointing to the middle Potter.

"It this true, Al?" Ginny asked.

Al's eyes grew larger and his hand came up and pointed in James's direction. "It was James!"

"I didn't mean to do it; it was a complete accident!" James yelled out suddenly. An awkward silence initiated.

"What didn't you mean to do?" Ginny finally asked. James looked confused.

"So you guys aren't talking about – never mind," he said, turning a faint pink. Slowly, the chit chat began again, but occasionally someone would shoot the three boys odd glances.

"Thanks a _lot_, Rose," Hugo said, but even he had to admit that was hilarious. Rose just smiled.

"Hey, what can I say?" she said in a fake pompous voice. She tapped her fingers against her left cheek and ate the last bit of risotto on her plate. She rinsed it down with some butterbeer and turned to Albus. "Okay, I won't bug you guys anymore until your dumb prank," she whispered. Al grinned and winked.

"It won't be so dumb when you see what it is," he said. "Now we just have to wait until my mum is done with her risotto," he attached after he saw his mother was still eating. The second the last bite was in her mouth, Hugo jumped up and grabbed the plates near him. When they gave him an odd look, he explained.

"Can't wait for afters. Come on then, Rose." Rose nodded slowly and helped him pick up the plates. "Ah, pumpkin cheesecake," he said when they stood at the table with three platters of the cheesecake. They each grabbed one platter and them on the dining room table. Rose grabbed the last platter and Hugo grabbed the three cans of whipped cream and she might have noticed it, but she thought she saw him grin a little. They settled down in their seats and waited as their mum cut one platter in equal sections before doing the other two. Then the three cans of whipped cream were passed around: James had one, Rose and Al's parents shared one and the Malfoys claimed one. After she sprayed some cream on her cheesecake, Rose waited. And waited. And waited. When nothing happened following that, Rose calmed down a little and bit into her cake.

_Maybe they forgot_ she thought, but even that idea was farfetched. There were only twenty-five minutes left of the dinner was when it happened. If only Rose had saw the tip-off. Hugo grinned at Al who turned to Lily and secretly moved his thumb down his chin. The tip-off. Lily nodded and glanced at James getting another slice of cake. Her hand shot up and grabbed the can resting by her brother's plate.

"Hugo!" she yelled and she threw the can at Rose's brother before anyone had time to intercept it. Hugo caught it and grinned. Al leaned down and grabbed something to his right; a can of whipped cream.

_That's why Hugo was crouching down by the door and that explains that 'clunk' noise!_ She connected the pieces.

"Hugo, Al, what are you two doing?" Hermione asked.

But they didn't hear her. Hugo yelled, "Take this, James!" and was spraying the cream at his oldest cousin. Al followed his lead and laughed when Lily got herself a can and was joining in. Rose didn't want to mess up her outfit, but it did look fun, so she grabbed the can by the Malfoys and joined in. Four against one. She heard a faint pop and saw that her father and uncle had disapparated.

_They probably don't want to deal with the wrath of mum_ she thought, but just like that they were back. And they were carrying four more cans of 'Light and Fluffy' each. She grinned.

"Come on, Draco, Astoria, Scorpius! Don't just sit there; join in!" Ron yelled and he began spraying Al and Hugo while Harry got Lily and Rose. They hadn't actually thought the Malfoys were going to join, but there they were: spraying each other and whoever was spraying them. Ginny had seized one of the cans Ron and Harry had left on the table and it looked as if she was getting the contents in her husband's hair. Somewhere in all of this James had also collected a can and was getting back at Hugo, Al, and Lily, but he still had a considerable amount of cream all over him.

Rose even made sure to spray Lily a _lot_. It made her feel better, even if by a little. She felt someone behind her and had turned and squirted whoever the person was.

Scorpius.

She was going to apologize when he grinned and happily got her back. Why would she need to apologize anyway? Everyone was hitting anyone that was there.

Or so that was what she thought before every can of whipped suddenly stopped spraying. She looked at the table and saw one person hadn't picked up a can. Doing the math, you could see that all the Potters, Malfoys and three-fourths of the Weasleys had a can. That one-fourth missing was standing up at her seat with her wand in her hand and was looking absolutely livid. How could they forget she was there?

It was silent except for a sudden _plop_ noise; some of the cream in her hair had fallen off and hit the floor.

There was a sound coming from behind Rose. It sounded very familiar . . . Rose's face paled when she figured out what the noise was.

And someone still had the audacity to _laugh?!_

**A/N:** Not the best chapter, but I hoped you liked it. :) And yeah, their prank wasn't so much a prank, but still. I promised that the adults wouldn't be sitting there and talking about boring stuff the whole time, so there you are, even if they weren't mentioned that much. There's still about two chapters left! **Please**: Review! I want to know who _you_ think is laughing! :)

--~~ Sparkly S ~~--


	8. You tell Her!

**A/N:** I almost didn't post today because of my gigantic pile of homework and tests I need to study for, but whatever. And to _Marciabarcia_, you were right about who was laughing (the first person you typed). :) I had a bit of writer's block wen typing this chapter, so I know it isn't so great.

**Disclaimer:**I don't own anything dealing with 'Harry Potter.'

* * *

At first, Rose thought it was Hugo; why _wouldn't _he laugh? But it didn't sound anything like Hugo's laugh. Slowly she turned around and her eyes widened. _He _was _laughing_?! First _smiling_ and now this?!

_He's so brave_ the mushy part of her thought. She looked over at her mum . . . who still looked angry. _Mum! Don't kill him! _But that wasn't on Hermione's list. Soon she was laughing too and more people joined in when they were sure she was actually laughing and not laughing to trick them so she could begin yelling.

"And what exactly was the point of that, Hugo? Al?" Hermione asked when she had stopped laughing, a smile on her face.

Hugo was enjoying himself very much. He had fallen to the ground from all of his laughter and was currently on his side, still laughing. "You – You tell her, Al," he managed out between gasps of air. "You tell her!"

Al opened his mouth, but was interrupted by Hugo. He had stopped laughing long enough to climb on his feet, but when he saw his mum, the chortles were back and he fell back down, gasping something along the lines, "It went _plop_!" Al burst out into fresh chuckles at Hugo and began to explain.

"Well, we just wanted to play a prank on James. We hadn't expected those two over there –" he pointed to Ron and Harry – "to go out and get more whipped cream." He shrugged and grinned. "But that was really funny." James huffed from where he stood.

"And what did I do to deserve getting pranked?" Al shrugged again.

"What did _anyone_ do to deserve being pranked?" James nodded; he did have a point.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked suddenly.

"Hm?" Hermione turned to her sister-in-law and closest friend . . . and was met with a face full of cream. Ginny smiled.

"I found the counter charm you put on the cans." And the whipped cream was flying everywhere once more. Rose was laughing as soon as she heard another faint _pop_. She scanned room and saw her father and uncle had once again disappeared and her mum wasn't present either.

_What's the big idea? _She had begun to think before they returned. And they weren't carrying empty hands.

"Are those –" she began.

"They got cherries! Hit the floor!" he cried with a big smile. Then he actually fell to the floor and tackled his dad to ground before he grabbed a handful of cherries and began throwing them at him and Uncle Harry. Rose was laughing – so hard she had to hold a stitch in her side – at how crazy Hugo was, but helped him nonetheless. Ron was in tears at Hugo's antics and the plastic container with the cherries had fallen from his hand, littering the floor. She stooped down to grab some and threw them at anyone near her.

The little cherry/whipped cream battle went on for about ten more minutes until the Malfoys announced their leave.

"Sorry, but we should be going now; we have to clean ourselves up, of course," Draco said with a small smile." Rose hung back a little while everyone bid them a farewell. She smiled awkwardly as Astoria came over and gave her a little hug. Soon after Draco came and gave her a hug, too, so she moved forward a bit to where Scorpius was. Maybe he'd give her a hug like his parents.

_Stop getting your hopes up high, Rosie dearest_ her mind told her.

Rose looked on as Scorpius gave Lily a hug and shook hands with her uncle.

_I should've thrown some cherries at her_ she thought sourly. Scorpius turned and came face to face with her. He blinked once or twice and Rose was sure he was going to raise his arms to hug her. Sure enough, his arms twitched as though he were going to bring them up, but remained at his side as if he thought better of it. He gave her a reassuring smile and left to hug Ginny.

The smile that she had returned stayed on her face as understanding flowed around in her mind.

_He was just . . . shy_ was the first excuse that popped in her head. _He wasn't as shy as when he was putting his hands all over your youngest cousin._

"Stupid contemptuous thoughts," she muttered to herself as the smile slid off. She looked up when she heard the door close and saw that the Potters were still there. On the slight depressed side, Rose sighed, pulled the rubber band off of her wrist and pulled her hair up.

She heaved herself in a chair and watched as her parents talked. By the kitchen door, she could see James, Albus, and Hugo talking – more prank ideas was what she was betting on.

_Wait a sec, where's Lil – _

"Hey, Rose!" Lily smiled and sat in a chair next to one of her older cousins.

Rose hoped the smile she put on didn't look too strained. "Hey, Lily." Lily's mouth opened, but Albus swooped over.

"Hey, Lily, can I talk to Rose for a moment?" Lily looked inquisitive, but nodded and left as her big brother took her seat. He had a knowing smile on his face that made Rose cower. Did he know of –?

"I know," he said as if he were reading her mind.

"Know what?" she asked.

"I saw that look on your face when Scorpius didn't hug you back. And I know," he said with that smile that made Rose cower back more.

"Wait – you were on the other side of the room!" she remembered. Al shrugged.

"Unlike my dad, I have great eyesight." He smirked jokingly.

Rose glanced at him. She wasn't giving in so easily. "You know what?"

Al gave her a look that said 'You're still playing dumb?' "If the look you had didn't scream 'hug me! Hug me!' then I don't know what does," he remarked and grinned when he saw her gaze at him alarmed and look around them to see if anyone had heard. "It's okay, your secret's safe with me." Then he put his finger up to his mouth. Rose smiled and gave him a hug.

"This is why you're 88th on my favorite cousins list," she said.

"Really? You actually have a list and you rank us – wait, do we really have that many cousins?" Rose put her finger up to her mouth as he had and smiled as he good-humoredly shoved her.

* * *

**A/N:** The rubber band makes a comeback from Chapter One! I know this chapter was pretty short, but don't think the story's completed; I still have one more chapter. :) And sorry for the lack of Hugo in this chapter; he'll be back in the next chapter. :) Would love it of you review even if it's to tell me about mistakes of how bad this story is. :)

--~~ Sparkly S ~~--


	9. Now I Remember

**A/N: **This is the last chapter!! I hope you guys enjoyed it and I want to say thanks to _books and candy_. Why? I'll explain that in the next author's note. For now, enjoy the last chapter. :) Oh, and look for your name in the next **A/N:** if you reviewed/commented, favorited, or story alerted this story. It meant a lot so I wanna say thanks. :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything dealing with 'Harry Potter.'

* * *

Rose followed Albus over to Hugo and James and saw that was where Lily went when she was shooed away. She squeezed herself in between Hugo and James and spent some time goofing around with her cousins and brother. Then the Potters were going to leave, so she gave them hugs and watched as everyone else said some things before their departure.

Once the Potters were out the door, Rose tried to get upstairs, but was caught.

"Rose, don't think you can go upstairs right now." She groaned and followed her mum's voice to the family room where she saw Hugo was lying down on the couch, just like earlier in the day. And just like earlier in the day, Ron came over and moved him to make room for him and Rose. Hugo glared at them.

"There's _another_ settee _right_ over there," he said.

"Then why don't you move over there?" Ron asked him.

Hugo leaned back. "Because I was here first." Rose grinned.

Hermione interrupted and said, "Just because your father and I went along with this doesn't mean we're just going to wave our wands like that and the mess is cleaned up." Hugo frowned.

"And why aren't you?" Hermione smiled.

"Just think of this as your punishment."

"And that's all to punishment then?" he asked.

"Shall I add more? I really didn't think you were the one to like being disciplined, Hugo, but I can add more if you think I wasn't being hard enough on you two."

Rose shouted "no" at the same time Hugo had.

"What I meant was _why_ you _were_ letting us off so easily. And I don't want anything else added to that," he quickly said.

"Let's just say I actually enjoyed myself for a moment there," she said, "get to cleaning right now, please, I want the dining room and kitchen refreshed and that includes the dishes." She kissed Ron before kissing her two children on the cheek and heading upstairs.

"And what do we get out of – now I remember," Hugo said, turning to his father.

Ron smiled. "You'll get the money once the place is cleaned up," he said. Hugo sighed deeply and loudly.

"Fine," he said. He tagged along behind Rose as they went upstairs to change their attire to something more suited to wash and clean. Rose was about to put her foot on the bottom step when a force on her back nearly made her stumble forward and fall flat on her face on the stairs. Her flailing hands caught hold of the railing and she managed to stay rooted upwards.

"What – Hugo! What was that?" Rose looked at Hugo.

"I just wanted to ride on your back to see if you could get me upstairs," he said, smiling. "I knew you wouldn't but it was fun watching you about to fall." He mocked her arm movement thrashing around.

"I _can_ get you upstairs," she said. Really, she didn't know if she would be able, but it seemed really fun and stupid – two topics Hugo would know about – and decided to give a try.

He shrugged. "If you say so." He jumped on her back and Rose nearly fell over again. "Come on, Rose, only a bunch more stairs to climb!" Rose gripped the railing and put one foot on the bottom step before the other joined it. She had only made it up three steps when she gave up.

"Merlin, Hugo! Your eating habits take after dad, huh?"

"I heard that!" Ron called from the family room.

Rose smiled. "Sorry!" She ascended the rest of the staircase and turned into her room.

She descended five minutes later wearing a t – shirt and an old pair of jeans. Hugo was already in the dining room wearing pretty much what Rose was wearing. He was sitting in a chair with his head down on the table. Rose crept over to him and rapped her hand against his head a couple of times.

"Wake up, sleepy, we've got cleaning to do!" Hugo raised his head and glared at her.

"Let's just get this over with," he yawned. Rose looked at a clock and saw it was a few minutes after eleven.

"Aw, little thirteen year old boy can't stay up past his bedtime?" Rose teased even though she was dead tired too. He stood up and with a smile he 'accidentally' bumped into her. Slowly they started with the dining room and managed to clean up everything sporting whipped cream. They made their way into the kitchen and split the dishes up evenly to try and get finished faster.

"Finally," Hugo said as he stifled another yawn when they had pretty much concluded with the cleaning. He dropped the rag he had been using in the sink and left without saying anymore, no doubt to get some sleep. Rose yawned and went to check the clock again. Fifteen minutes after twelve. Her dad was no longer in the family room so she assumed he had went upstairs and was sleeping; which was what she needed to be doing right now. She turned the lights in the kitchen and dining room off before she dragged herself back upstairs.

Rose was able to get her now filthy clothes off and slipped into her nice nightclothes. She was about to crawl into her bed after she had finished brushing her teeth, but noticed something on her desk. Something brown. She made her way over and saw it was just an owl with a note attached to it. She looked at it enviously; it was sleeping. She was wondering if she should read the letter now or let it wait until morning.

She sighed, sat down, and turned a little light on before reading the parchment.

_Hey Rose,_

_I was trying to tell you this over at your house, but apparently Albus wanted to talk to you first. What were you guys talking about? Oh, wait, you don't have to answer that. Anyway, guess who just asked me out! I bet you'll never guess who!_

_Lily_

Rose's heart stopped beating for a second there. Who had asked her out? She wanted to think on it more, but her droopy eyelids and aching knees and arms had another idea. She turned the light back off and shut her window. Shuffling over to her bed and pulling the blankets back, Rose crumpled under and fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N:** I know I say this about every chapter, but excuse the shortness. Originally, that wasn't how the story ended, but _books and candy_ gave me this idea when she reviewed saying she wanted to hear what Lily was going to say to Rose in the last chapter. I was just going to have Lily walk over to let you guys see how Rose was sorta jealous of her. So thanks _books and candy_!

And now for everyone else who stayed with my story! :) : _Roxy43_, marrou, _Ra-ra Kim_, Marciabarcia, _Alicesvisions_, sparklyshimmer2010, _Frankie-JaymeENGLISHPROUD_, Shivani07, _ThereIsSuchAThingAsLove. x_, Angels In The Dark, _chocolate fish_, DWatts1027, _That Romantic_, XxgawjussemokidxX, _alicecullen51089_, schnauzerlover, _Nibinokwe_, Spicysweetchica101, _Edwards-girl-from the start_, xAmbershine282x, _Joelle8_, Vampire Lover26, _EmmaAllieCullen._, and P.o.T.t.Y.F.a.N.x!

Thanks you guys! This is just in order by date in my email. And I italicized some so you guys could see it a bit better. Thank you guys a bunch again!

And yes, the ending does hint at a possible sequel wink, wink. :)

Oh! Almost forgot! If anyone noticed, every chapter title is something that Hugo has said that was three words. Did anyone notice that? :)

--~~ Sparkly S ~~--


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